European Lithium (ASX:EUR) has executed a binding heads of agreement (HOA) with Canadian exploration company Richmond Minerals’ (TSXV:RMD) subsidiary 2743718 Ontario Inc. to acquire the Bretstein-Lachtal, Klementkogel, and Wildbachgraben projects in Austria.
The company reports these projects comprise 245 exploration licences covering a total area of 114.6km-square in the Styria mining district, which is considered prospective for lithium occurrences.
As part of the agreement, European Lithium will pay Ontario $250,000 in cash, and will issue 2 million fully paid ordinary shares at an issue price of $0.07 per share, as well as 2 million unlisted options at an issue price of $0.12 each which will expire in 3 years from the date of issue.
Completion of the acquisition is subject to European Lithium completing due diligence within 3 months unless mutually agreed otherwise, obtaining all necessary shareholder, regulatory, and third-party approvals, as well as incorporating a new Austrian entity. Settlement of the transaction is expected to occur on or before 7 July 2023.
Following the acquisition, European Lithium intends to conduct detailed geological and structural mapping of prospective areas to determine potential extent of pegmatite veins and lenses, additional trenching and sampling, geophysical investigations, and defining a potential drill target. This work will focus primarily on the Bretstein-Lachtal project area.
Commenting on the agreement, European Lithium Chairman Tony Sage says: “The acquisition is an excellent opportunity to secure ground in a largely unexplored area highly prospective for lithium and builds on our portfolio of European projects in a known jurisdiction where we have exploration and development experience.
The company is in the final stages of completing a proposed merger transaction that will see the advanced Wolfsberg Lithium Project develop under control of Critical Metals Corp. that intends to list on NASDAQ. Once complete, together with our Ukrainian assets, the company will refocus on building and developing critical metals projects in Europe.”
“The acquisition is an excellent opportunity to secure ground in a largely unexplored area highly prospective for lithium and builds on our portfolio of European projects…”
European Lithium reports the Bretstein-Lachtal project is located 80km from its Wolfsberg Lithium project, and notes previous explorers recorded lithium oxide (Li2O) grades up to 2.93%, and spodumene crystals as large as 10cm in outcrop in 2004.
A reconnaissance campaign completed by Richmond in 2022 revealed multiple pegmatite bodies in the project area which confirmed the previous exploration work. Spodumene veins were observed up to metre thickness with spodumene crystals up to 10cm. Geochemical results from grab rock chip samples indicate prospective spodumene pegmatites with Li2O grades ranging from 0.51% to 2.67%.
The company says the initial exploration approach taken by Richmond is also supported by recent scientific work which investigated an alternative explanation for the formation of lithium-rich pegmatites without fertile parental granites. Based on this model, the Bretstein-Lachtal area is considered ‘highly’ prospective for a future discovery of spodumene pegmatites.
Limited exploration has also been undertaken at the Wildbachgraben and Klementkogel projects, with spodumene-bearing pegmatites reported by Heritsch in 1984, Moser et al. in 1989, and Postl and Bojar in 2015, although little is known about the existing outcrops and spatial distribution of spodumene pegmatites.
European Lithium is an ASX-listed mining exploration and development company focused on its Wolfsberg Lithium Project in Austria.
Images: European Lithium Ltd
